A Rural Blog that provides views & insights from a Conservative Georgia Democrat

Thursday, March 18, 2010

Teilhet Unveils Proposal for Child Protection Unit in AG’s Office

Press Release from Teilhet Campaign

Attorney General Candidate Rob Teilhet unveiled today a major component of his campaign platform, a new Child Protection Unit within the Office of Attorney General, and the continuation of his YouTube series, “Teilhet TV: Inside Georgia”—the first of which is dedicated to his proposed measure to protect children on the internet. His latest installment can be viewed HERE.

“There is no limit on how hard we can fight for our children’s safety,” said Representative Teilhet. “As an elected official, an attorney and most importantly- father of two little girls, I know that we can—we must—do more to protect Georgia’s kids.”

Teilhet’s proposed Child Protection Unit within the Attorney General’s office will coordinate and participate in the investigation and prosecution against those that harm children. Teilhet’s Child Protection Unit will also promote policy to prevent crime targeted at and perpetuated by youth in Georgia.

“You must have a two-pronged approach,” said Teilhet. “We cannot afford an Attorney General who thinks that his job starts after a crime has been committed. We need to start at the beginning. This means investing in our kids, giving them a real chance to succeed as well as expanding and enforcing our laws regarding crimes against children and cracking down on those who break them.”

Teilhet has introduced and supported measures to protect Georgia’s children and families since first elected in 2002. Just this year, he authored two strong pieces of crime prevention legislation. Teilhet’s “Johnia Berry Act,” HB 1033, would expand Georgia’s DNA database by collecting a simple cheek-swab sample from felony arrestees while collecting fingerprints and mug shots. Twenty-one other states and the federal government have passed similar measures and research indicates that such a law will actually prevent murders and rapes from happening in our state. The bill is named for Gwinnet residents Joan and Michael Berry’s daughter Johnia, who was brutally murdered several years ago. DNA led to the murderer’s arrest.

Teilhet is also the author of ‘E-STOP,” HB 1290. This legislation would allow the GBI to give a list of registered sex offenders to popular online social networking websites, like Facebook and MySpace, who would then ban the offenders from creating a profile. Teilhet’s newest YouTube video explains this bill and why protecting our kids online is paramount to his campaign.

“I can promise this, as Attorney General, no one in the nation will go after predators who are trying to hurt our children as hard as I will. I will make Georgia the toughest state in the country to commit crimes against our kids,” said Teilhet. “Law enforcement, the GBI and prosecutors around the state will have the full backing of the Attorney General’s office. And we will work together to develop and support sound policy to prevent crime from happening in the first place.”